The present invention relates to a beverage made from the roots of the Kava plant (Piper methysticum), often referred to as Kava.
Kava originated in the Pacific Ocean cultures of Polynesia. Kava is sedating and is primarily consumed to relax without disrupting mental clarity. It is commonly used by people to treat insomnia and social anxiety.
The traditional method for brewing kava involves taking kava root (powdered, pressed, ground or shredded) and placing it into fine bags constructed of muslin, cheese cloths, and fine nylon. These material are used for the bags because they have fine pores that entrain the kava root inside them. Traditional tea balls and tea bags are not sufficient because the kava root is finer than tea leaves used for brewing tea and will infiltrate into the kava beverage.
The filled bags are placed in the beverage medium of choice and allowed to seep for several minutes minimum. The beverage medium must be cool or lukewarm. Hot beverage must not be used because the high temperature destroys kava root's main active ingredients known as kavalactones.
Once you let your filled bags seep in the beverage medium, the bags are removed and kneaded or squeezed to remove all of the liquid from the bag typically into a large bowl. The kavalactones are not water soluble, so they need to be compressed in order to be extracted from the root. The kneading/squeezing process will extract the kavalactones from the root into the liquid. The liquid collected in the bowl is the kava that will be consumed, and the bag and residual kava root is disposed of.
This method of brewing has numerous drawbacks. The first drawback of the brewing method is that the process is inefficient. In order to create a kava, the brewer will need prepare the tea in an intermediary larger bowl, and then transfer the extracted tea from the bowl into a cup where it will be ultimately consumed. Removal of the need for the intermediary bowl from the process would make for a more efficient brewing process.
Another drawback of the brewing method is that the process is messy. During the kneading or squeezing procedure, either the hands of the brewer will get coated in the tea, likely requiring the brewer to wash their hands after brewing, or the brewer will need to wear gloving that will be disposed of after brewing the tea. Creating a brewing process that would remove the need for the brewer to wring or squeeze the tea from the bags would be a cleaner process.
A final drawback for this brewing method is that it is not conducive to restaurant sales. Regardless of the cleanliness of the beverage prepares, there will always be a segment of the population who will be turned off from buying a beverage prepared by a food service employee who wrings their beverage out of a bag using their bare hands or even gloved hands. Creating a brewing process that would remove the need for the brewer to wring or squeeze the tea from the bags would likely make the prepared kava more conducive to restaurant sales.